La polémica de los islamistas contra la libertad de expresión en Francia, en un interesante artículo de Cyprus Mail
Religion can never be above criticism
FRENCH Muslims have gone to court suing a weekly magazine for reproducing two of the controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and a third of their own.
The plaintiffs deny putting freedom of expression on trial, citing laws against the incitement of racism. They are not suing over all 12 Danish cartoons, but over two which they feel go beyond mere blasphemy into incitement of racial hatred by assimilating Islam with terrorism.
Few in France agree: the cover of Charlie Hebdo, the third cartoon targeted, shows the Prophet holding his head in his hands alongside a caption reading “Mohammed overwhelmed by fundamentalists” and a bubble saying: “it’s hard to be loved by idiots”.
It’s quite clear that the “idiots” refers to fundamentalists, not to Muslims as a whole, and indeed the Danish cartoons themselves raised the issue of the way Islam is being hijacked by extremists.
The right, indeed the duty, to criticise is one of the basic pillars of democracy. Another is the principle of secularism, which European societies have fought hard to establish since the eighteenth century. It would be grotesque if after centuries of battles with established Christian Churches, the West were now to be cowed into submission out of fear of offending immigrant Muslim communities.
No more than any other public institution, religion cannot be exempt from criticism and derision. As Philippe Val, the publisher of Charlie Hebdo, told the court, “What is sacred for a religion is sacred only for believers of that religion. If we respected all the taboos of all religions, where would we be?” Even less should such protection from criticism be afforded to extremists and terrorists, the real targets of the cartoons. “If we no longer have the right to laugh at terrorists, what arms are citizens left with if they can no longer laugh to overcome their fears?” added Val.
It is precisely this savage irreverence that is the strength and value of our society. If we cannot satirise religion, why should we satirise politicians? And the day we stop mocking politicians, we will have taken a great step away from democracy and towards totalitarianism.
Testifying in favour of the magazine, French-Tunisian philosopher Abdel Wahhab Meddeb told the court: “I urge Muslims to adapt to Europe and not the other way round.
That would be catastrophic.” This is the crux of the debate. Coming to Western Europe, Muslim immigrants cannot demand the kind of institutionalisation of their beliefs offered in countries like Saudi Arabia. They have to adapt to the principles and norms of their host countries, understanding that this is what underpins the very freedom and opportunity that has attracted them to those countries in the first place.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
comnetar 9 Febrero 2007
